So, we have a serious nutcase who blew away about 30 kids. And the knee jerk reaction is now to politicize this and call for the banning of people's right to keep and bear arms.

There is a strong parallel between gun banning and dog banning. Same phenomenon. After Dianne Whipple was killed by a couple of Presa Canarios, insurance companies began refusing to issue homeowner's policies, and cities placed this breed on their banned dogs lists. Then, cities were emboldened to ban other breeds across the Western world, using this tragedy as a way of banning many dog breeds.

Look, when cooler head prevail, we don't do these kinds of things. We don't decide to go and tear up the Constitution and Bill of Rights. The right to self defense is fundamental to a free society. That is what the Second Amendment of the Constitution is all about. The Supreme Court has ruled that the police have NO obligation to protect you. Their job is to protect the community at large, and to bring law and order to the community. They have no obligation to come to your defense, no obligation to answer your 911 emergency phone call, no obligation to stop a stalker or robber or rapist, and no obligation to risk their lives to save yours. At some point, you have to have the right to step in and protect yourself, and that might mean using a gun.

My mom tells me that many years ago, she was home, alone with us kids (dad was at work) and someone tried to break into our apartment. She yelled at the guy, through the door, who was trying to break through the front door, to go away. But, he kept working at the door. She went and got my dad's handgun, pointed it at the door, told the guy she was armed and would shoot unless he went away. The guy stopped and left. There is no way the police would have arrived in time to save her and my family if she hadn't been armed, and prepared to use that weapon to save her and her kids. Even being warned someone was home, the guy kept trying to break into the home. It took the threat of being killed to stop this wacko.

Similarly, dogs are regularly deployed to save lives every day. Even the police use them to save lives. We all know dogs can be a part of a good home security plan. But, when some wacko misuses a dog and an innocent person gets injured or killed, we toss away our rights and decide that we should ban the very types of dogs that we need to save lives.

More people's lives are saved by dogs, than the number of people killed by dogs.

Listen to the bleating of the comics-turned-pundits, like Rosie on the View, calling for the banning of guns, and consider the source. This is the same person who says she has been clinically depressed since the 1999 Columbine student shooting, hanging upside down in some weird contraption to counter the depression. Are you clinically depressed about a tragic news story that happened a million miles away, nearly 8 years ago, to no one you knew personally? It is these same types of drama queens that champion the banning of dogs in our communities.

I do not support giving up my Constitutional rights, or my inalienable human rights, just because someone abuses them. Anything can be perverted. Anything can be used to excess... food, video games, alcohol, gambling, cars, guns, dogs, hobbies, sex, water... anything.

I am not an ascetic. I find that kind of thinking to be anti-nature. According to Wikipedia: Asceticism describes a life characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures (austerity). Those who practice ascetic lifestyles often perceive their practices as virtuous and pursue them to achieve greater spirituality. Many ascetics believe the action of purifying the body helps to purify the soul, and thus obtain a greater connection with the Divine or find inner peace. This may take the form of self-mortification, rituals or renunciations of pleasure. However, ascetics maintain that self-imposed constraints bring them greater freedom in various areas of their lives, such as increased clarity of thought and the ability to resist potentially destructive temptations.

I am not about to become a non-person just to not offend others. I am not going to be the lamb for the slaughter, and I don't think you should let yourself be one, either. If my friends, family or some helpless person is threatened, I'm going to risk my life and help them out. If those other students had been armed, then maybe fewer people would have died in this tragedy. And if you have that German Shepherd Dog, pit bull, Rottweiler, or other dog, maybe that dog will someday save your life, or the life of a loved one.

To give up your rights is to allow yourself to be abused. It is giving into authoritarianism and totalitarianism. And that is not morally right.

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Sam Basso is a professional dog trainer and behaviorist, providing services to pets and their owners, primarily in the Phoenix/ Scottsdale metropolitan area. He is known for his fun, kind, intelligent, and humane training methods. Lessons are geared towards practical obedience and behavioral modification for companion dogs. SamTheDogTrainer.com is built on a combination of common sense training, scientific principles, animal welfare ideals, and Sam Basso’s unique personal touch. Sam Basso is unique in that his approach to dog training and animal welfare has such a broad appeal. He has appeared on his own TV show, has been a guest radio expert, gives seminars locally and nationally, publishes a dog related blog, and is active in promoting fair laws for dogs and dog owners.